Floor-clamp



(N0 Model.)

G. 0. WOOLOOGKS. FLOOR CLAMP.

No. 495,446. Patented Apr. 11, 1893.

WITNESSES A TTORNE Y8.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE O. WOOLOOOKS, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FLOOR-C LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 495,446, dated April 11, 1893.

Application filed July 19, 1892.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, GEORGE O. WooLoooKs, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Floor-Olamp, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in that class of clamps known as fioor clamps, and which are adapted for use in crowding together the boards of a floor, ceiling or wall, and the object of my invention is to produce a light, compact, strong and inexpensive floor clamp which may be quickly applied to the boards of a floor, wall or ceiling, and by means of which the said boards may be forced firmly together and held in position until permanently fastened.

To this end, myinvention consistsin a floor clamp, the construction of which will be here inafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the clamp embodying my invention, showing it as applied to a floor. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 22 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional elevation, with a portion of the lever broken away and with the cam in position to force the head against the boards. Fig. 4 is a similar View, but showing a slight modification of the head, the side abutting with the cam being shown concave instead of convex. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the clamp as applied to a ceiling and with a suspending hook to hold it inplace; and Fig. 6 is a cross section on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5.

The clamp is provided with a fiat head 10, which on its front edge is longitudinally grooved, as shown at 11, so that it may fit upon the tongue of a matched board, as shown in Fig. 2, and this arrangement enables the head to work as well against a straight edged board. The head has parallel side arms 12, extending backward, these being slotted horizontally and longitudinally, as shown at 13,

so as to receive the pin 14, which extends transversely through and between the arms, and on which is fulcrumed the cam lever 15. This lever has at its lower end a cam 16, and the pin extends through the cam near one Serial No. 440 .509- (No model.)

end, while the opposite extremity 17 is adapted to contact with the back side or edge of the head 10 and forces the head against a board. The back edge of the head 10 with which the cam contacts, may be either made convex, as shown at 18 in Fig. 2, or concave as shown at 19 in Fig. 4. The latteris in some cases preferable, as where a convex edge is used, the cam will sometimes liftupward on the head after the pressure is applied, and cause the clamp and adjacent board to bulge slightly, but with the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the pressure is exactly straight and the clamp and boards are held perfectly level. The outer end of the lever 15 terminates in a handle 15, by which it may be operated. The pin 14 also extends through the parallel arms 19 of a toe-piece 20, these arms extending between the arms 12, as best shown in Fig. 1, and the toe-piece and head are thus held together.

The arms 19 of the toe-piece have on their.

outer sides longitudinal ribs 21, which slide in grooves 22 on the inner sides of the arms 12 of the head, as best shown in Fig. 1, and

this arrangement keeps the head and toe-piece in proper relative positions and enables the head to move outward on the toe-piece.

The toe-piece is beveled on its top side and near the back edge, as shown at 23, and isreduced on the under side near the center, as shown at 24, this arrangement being merely to decrease its weight without materially affecting its strength, but the shape of the toepiece may be changed if desired without departing from the principle of the invention. Extending transversely across the under fiat portion of the toe-piece, near its outer extremity, is a dovetail recess in which is held a plate 25, and the latter has spurs or teeth 26 thereon which are adapted to enter a floor or other timber and prevent the toe-piece from slipping.

For overhead work, the implement is provided with a suitable hook 27, which may be secured to any convenient part of the same, and which is adapted to be driven into a timber so as to prevent the implement from dropping. As shown in Figs. 5 and 6 this hook is applied to one end of the pin 14.

The improvement is used in the following way: \Vhen the boards, as 28, are to be crowded together, the lever 15 is thrown back so that the head and toe-piece may be pushed together and bring the implement into its most compact form, after which it is placed upon a timber 29, close up to the outer edge of the boards 28, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The lever 15 is then thrown upward and forward, and the end 17 of the cam 16, by contact with the back edge of the head 10, forces the head forward and crowds the boards firmly together, in which position they are held until they are nailed or otherwise secured.

It will be noticed that when pressure is applied to the head by means of the cam 16, there will be a back pressure on the toe-piece 23, and this will force the teeth 26 into the supporting timberso that the toe-piece cannot slip. These teeth may be produced directly on the toe-piece instead of on the detachable plate 25, but it is better to have them on the plate, and by this means, when the teeth become dull the plate may be removed and a' new one substituted.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a floor clamp, the combination of a head having slotted arms, a toe piece between the arms of the head and provided with spurs on its under side, and a cam lever pivoted to the toe piece, the ends of the said pivot projecting into the slots of the arms of the head, substantially as described.

2. In a floor clamp, the combination of a head having slotted arms, a toe piece fitting between the arms of the head and provided with parallel arms and with spurs, a cam lever between the arms of the toe piece, and a pin passing through the arms of the toe piece and cam lever and projecting into the slots of the arms of the head, substantially as described.

3. An improved floor clamp, consisting of a head provided with slotted and grooved parallel arms, a toe piece provided with parallel arms, spurs on its under side and ribs on its edges entering the grooves of the arms of the head, a cam lever between the arms of the toe piece, and a pin extending through the arms of the toe piece and the cam lever and projecting into the slots of the arms of the head, substantially as herein shown and described.

GEORGE O. WOOLCOCKS. 

